Can you imagine what the Dallas Cowboys would’ve looked like the last 2 1/2 years without Running Back Ezekiel Elliott? (shivers at the thought) He is without a doubt the engine that drives the Cowboys offense, but there was a time that many around Cowboys Nation believed Derrick Henry could do just as well.
Leading into the 2016 NFL Draft there was quite a debate as to who the Dallas Cowboys should select fourth overall. The discussion centered around former Ohio State Buckeye RB Ezekiel Elliott and Florida State Seminole DB Jalen Ramsey, but Derrick Henry definitely factored into the debate as well.
Cowboys fans were pretty much split down the middle as to whether or not they wanted Dallas to take Zeke or Ramsey with their fourth overall selection. I for one was Team Zeke all the way because I believed he could do more to improve the entire team, but I definitely understood why there were so many jumping aboard the Team Ramsey train.
Jalen Ramsey was definitely worthy of becoming the Dallas Cowboys fourth overall selection. He possessed all of the intangibles to become a “shutdown” cornerback in the NFL and the versatility to play safety as well. Those were both positions the Cowboys desperately needed to upgrade, hence the high volume of interest in him being the selection.
Those aboard the Team Ramsey train made the argument that if the Cowboys were to draft the talented Florida State DB in the first-round, they could then come back and get their running back in the second-round, à la Derrick Henry. The logic was sound, but maybe not the right move for Dallas.
Make no mistake, Derrick Henry was a talented RB and was highly touted by many draft analyst coming out of Alabama, but he was no Ezekiel Elliott. Both players definitely had outstanding collegiate careers, but only one of them really had the skill set that translated best into the NFL game today.
Yes, I’m talking about Zeke. He was considered one of the most complete running backs coming out of college for a reason. His skill set would transition to any offensive scheme as both a runner and receiver, but he also possessed top-notch pass protection skills as well.
Derrick Henry on the other hand wasn’t as scheme diverse. Henry is more of the “old school” RB, whose skill set probably works best in a power blocking scheme. He is at his best when he gets his momentum going downhill, but really struggles when he is forced to run side to side. That running style just didn’t fit very well in the Cowboys zone blocking scheme.
We know now the Dallas Cowboys made the right decision drafting Ezekiel Elliott fourth overall and then following that up with Linebacker Jaylon Smith with their second-round selection. They are arguably among the best at their given positions in the NFL and are playing big roles in their third year with the Cowboys.
Unfortunately, I don’t think you could’ve said the same about the combination of DB Jalen Ramsey and RB Derrick Henry. Ramsey has turned into one of the best cornerbacks in the league, but Henry is struggling to find his footing still in Tennessee. It’s hard not to wonder “what if” things would’ve turned out differently. What would the combination of Ramsey and Henry look like in Dallas?
I for one wanted Zeke too but Henry could be better playing with Dallas than Tennessee. I was praying that we could have landed Ronald Jones jr out of USC in the second round this last draft.
You wanted Dallas to invest a needed 2nd round pick in another RB, with Elliot already on board? With the team needing help at plenty of other positions? Why?
There is “no doubt” that Elliot is the “engine” of the offense? Actually, not only is there doubt, but it most certainly isn’t true. If you’ve been paying attention, the engine to the offense is obviously the Offensive Line. Give the line, at its normal level of play, at least a solid QB (i.e. not the guys behind center in 2015) and you have a strong offense, with any playmakers in the group just a bonus.
Elliot is a cherry on top, taking big holes and making the most for those runs, but he is very limited at producing when the blocking isn’t great. There is a reason that the offense has stalled this year, as it did in the second half of 2017, and that reason is the OL not performing even close to its prior greatness. Some put the “credit” for the 2017 struggles on Elliot’s suspension, ignoring the tape and how the offense played even after he returned, but 2018 has proven it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Elliot is a quality additional piece to an offense, but he isn’t an Adrian Peterson or (dare I say it) Saquon Barkley, guys who will at times explode for big plays single-handedly. All of Elliot’s big plays are really just a highlight reel for OL blocking, so he only makes a strong offense better, not creates a strong offense on his own.
P.S. Many of the people who argued for Ramsey at #4 overall (let’s not forget that some of us wanted Bosa most of all) did NOT advocate for Henry in round 2. It would have been most efficient to wait until the middle-rounds, which often still produce high-end RBs. Speaking of which, who was Dallas’s 4th RB on the team’s draft board? Jordan Howard, who went 150th overall (and could easily have been taken at pick 101 by Dallas). The 2016 class could have included Ramsey, Smith, AND Howard…and that would have been pretty nice.